Cambodia

About a year ago, my Bangkok friend Robert invested his considerable talents in the ten-room guest house, spa and adjoining farm and gardens called The Vine Retreat.

Robert, a native of Quebec Province, Canada is a Certified Accountant. But somehow, he has morphed into a civil engineer, electrician and carpenter as he repaired, renovated and rebuilt the long-neglected site in the jungle uplands of Kep Province in southern Cambodia.

Less than an hour’s drive from Kampong Thom in Central Cambodia lies the UNESCO World Heritage Site - The Temple Zone Sambor Prei Kuk, Archeological Site of Ancient Ishanapura.

I visited the site with my friend Howard. We strolled among the temples for several hours.

I have two distinct impressions of this site.

First is the age of this site.

Archeologists agree that the temples were built in the late Sixth to early Seventh Centuries. This complex is at least two hundred years older than the first temples at Angkor Wat, one of the most famous sites in Southeast Asia.

My second impression is the detail.

I look closely at the decorations on the temples, the 1300-year-old decorations! UNESCO calls the sculptures and reliefs “true masterpieces.”

Kampong Thom may be a small city. But it’s also a city of lively contrasts.

A constant flow of determined traffic crosses the steel arch bridge that spans the Steung Saen River. In the shadow of the bridge, a lone fisherman silently casts his net from a tiny wooden boat.

The traffic across the bridge is brisk. Vehicles vary in size and speed. Yet without the assistance of traffic lights at the four-way intersections, the trucks, buses, cars, vans, and motorbikes sort themselves out, effortlessly, courteously and safely.